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touch ; at times I have seen him eat some plum with great relish 

 while at other times he would not touch it. I have no doubt he 

 appreciated fruit all the more when the supply of live insects was 

 restricted. 



I tried him with one or two kinds of insectivorous food 

 but they did not seem to appeal to his taste at all. Spiders, fresh 

 ants' eggs, moths and smooth caterpillars were what he preferred 

 to anything else, and, when these were not to be procured, house 

 flies and dried ants' eggs were much appreciated. Mealworms I 

 have never given him as I have always been able to procure a 

 sufficient supply of other insects. 



I have seen it stated that these Buntings are particularly 

 fond of small beetles, but I must admit, as far as my limited 

 experience goes, these and wood-lice were the very insects that 

 my bird would have nothing to do with. 



These birds are quite hardy ; mine has spent most of his 

 time in travelling — summer and winter — and has lived mostly in 

 unheated rooms but never exposed to draughts, though he always 

 seemed happier when hung out in the sun on a warm day or 

 when kept in a warm room. 



His song if not pleasing to some people's ears is, to say the 

 least of it, novel and quite unlike that of any other bird I have 

 heard. I will not attempt to describe it, except to say that some 

 notes are very shrill and penetrating, others soft and plaintive, 

 while one note in particular sounds exactly like a Budgerigar 

 singing. When in Port Elizabeth he sang most days early in the 

 morning after having his bath, but strange to say he hardly sang 

 at all when he came to this country until after he had been to the 

 Crystal Palace show. Ever since then he has sung beautifully. 



The colour of this Bunting, its nesting habits, etc. have 

 already been most ably described by Mr. Page, but if my ex- 

 periences in keeping a solitary specimen of this bird should be 

 of any interest to others, I shall feel more than pleased that I 

 responded to our Editor's suggestion that I should contribute 

 an article on the subject. 



